The Flames of Nibelheim
by Chocobo Watcher
Summary: The terror of the famous "incident" we all know as Nibelheim, through the eyes of Sephiroth. No sex, rated for language and references. Sephiroth/Zack/Cloud. Dark and weepy. You've been warned.


Note: reading this might require tissues and something to hug.

I don't own Final Fantasy anything, Nomura, or the choir.

Sephiroth showed me this and I had to write it all at once.

Please don't kill me. I had to wait 11 years to get it right.

**The Flames of Nibelheim**

"Yessss...let them burn!" . Sephiroth stood in the basement laboratory. His entire frame shook from both rage and revelation as the tears streamed down his face. The other voice within him- **that** voice, seemed to draw him out like a blade, fierce and keen. It had gained strength from reading- and the discoveries assailed the other side of him that had just begun to love.

"No," the general whispered as he laid the damned volume on the desk. "Not him too." The silver-haired angel closed his eyes and clenched his fists, so hard that a nail pierced one palm. He barely noticed as the blood began a slow trickle of falling drops to the floor.

It was all a lie. Everything was a lie. And Cloud, Cloud would be...the sudden pain in his head brought him to his knees for the first time. Sephiroth could feel sensations building inside him like a storm. He attempted to stand and the first voice spoke in a hiss, causing his muscles to stiffen. "They created you to be a monster, so let them **see** their monster." "No! N-not...wrong. Angeal, brother, where are you!? You said we didn't, wouldn't have to be...".

A flood of memories burst forth in the mind of the tormented angel. Saving Cloud, holding Zack. The first time that that he, Angeal and Genesis completed a mission together. The morning that he held Cloud afterwards, and the boy could barely hide his adoration after all he'd already been through...all of that was **planned**? Another _experiment?_

It seemed that Nibelheim was all some sort of bizarre experiment related to early Shinra research into mind control techniques. Almost everyone in the village was either an unwitting pawn or a product of offspring in Shinras game. The conclusions reached in the research conducted here eventually led to the projects that resulted in his own creation.

"Mother." Sephiroth spoke the word quietly, sadly. He had no memory of his, Just her name...Jenova. And a cold, sterile laboratory, and Hojo endlessly pushing...pushing him further. But **she**, that voice- had finally forced him to the truth. The clarity of who he was, what Shinra had meant for him to be.

Her voice, the blessed voice, was beyond this. These vile men and women, who would manipulate genes and play god_- were too blind to see what was now walking among them_! The poor, hopeless people of the planet, all manipulated by Shinra, were as helpless as ants. Like slaves to their machinations. She would help him change all that. Destroy the would be enslavers, cull the weak, and find a new home. A home far from the imperfect world the Cetra had dreamed of and lost so long ago. That was the true desire of Jenova. Of Mother, Creator, _not destroyer_ of worlds.

He, who had no mother among the weak, would draw new life and thrive. Together they would end this pain and suffering. No more Shinras. No more experiments, pain, or lies. Mother and son _together, as it was meant to be._ "Poor Cloud," the general mused, "nothing but a puppet. First to them, then to me. I'm sorry, Spiky, but you were meant to be used, even as I was made to be so. I hope you will forgive me." The general began to laugh. They would pay. _They would all pay!!_ But first, his mother had to be freed.

The last shreds of sanity were slowly slipping away. Now that Sephiroth knew that their mission was part of an intentional clean-up operation to hide Shinra atrocities, and that he, **himself**, was one of those that they dared to intend to silence...he felt his rage surge anew. Those imbeciles knew nothing of the pain that they caused, lives they had ruined, damage they had done. It was time for them to see the meaning of true power, witness their monster unleashed, and feel the backbite of liberating revenge.

As he walked slowly up the spiral staircase, the suffering angel was prompted to think of Zack Fair. He too had unwittingly become a pawn- in spite of his fortune at having ben borne outside of the Shinra web. It would be he that would come when it was time. "I'm sorry, Angeal. This must be done. To save everyone from the monsters we are. From those who made us. Perhaps when mother and I are together again, we may see each other. Perhaps not. I cannot live as I have any longer, and change means that I must leave you. I am as damned as you are, brother. While I cannot save us all, I can do my part to ruin those who ruined us. If it is my fortune to die, so be it. You will hear from me no more. Mother awaits." Sephiroths lips moved silently, in apology, without further sound.

As he emerged from the Shinra mansion, the angel raised his hand. Flames flew forth from the air striking houses, trees, grass. As the rage infused thoughts that filled his mind empowered his magic, Sephiroth slowly made his way through the village. Not a single person would escape, nothing would remain. Let Shinra come. He would destroy them all! Oblivious and impervious to the screams, chaos and death that surged all around him, the tormented angel began his final journey to the mako reactor.

ssssssssssssssssssssssss

The door was almost putty in his hands. Sephiroth removed it with ease and was about to enter his mothers chamber when he felt the presence at his back. It was the young woman who had acted as guide from before. Her eyes were filled with tears of rage. "Why did you do it? Why did you kill my father?! Why did you destroy the village! Answer me, you **bastard**!". As she moved to strike him, the angel glanced back for only a moment. Tifa was flung backwards through space with violent force. Her head collided with the steps below on the way down. She lay crumpled on the ground, and remained motionless.

The general entered the chamber and was moments from his goal. To see his mothers face at last- the one that would free him as he would free her- meant everything to him now.

"Sephiroth! Speak to me!". The angel closed his eyes. "Damn. Puppy. Not now. Not here." The final thought slid away, and left only the monster behind. "You don't have to do this! Why did you destroy the village?!" Zack was answered with only silence. "Answer me, damn you! If you ever truly loved me, in the name of Angeal, at least tell me why!".

"Because, puppy, all this time you have been just that. A puppet. And when you have outlived your usefulness, you too will be destroyed." "That's not the Sephiroth I know!," Zack shouted. "The man I know, the **you** I know, loved us. Loved **me**. Remember Cloud, Sephiroth? How you loved each other?" "That too is a lie. He was raised from birth as part of an experiment, like me. He, like you, is a puppet, and it is the fate of all such beings to suffer and die. Mother wills it."

"No! I don't believe that, and I don't believe **you**! If your love for Cloud was a lie, Seph, why did you save him from Genesis? _Why did you do it?!_" Zack demanded, as his hand strayed toward the hilt of his buster sword. Something changed behind the eyes of the man, if only for a moment. They seemed to well with tears.

"Go, Zack. Don't force me to kill you. It's too late, puppy. To late for all of us. Go to the lab and read the truth for yourself. It's all there, believe me. Go." The angel seemed to choke on the last words and the hardness that had faded from behind his eyes had returned. He stared back at Zack, reflecting the blackness that now consumed his soul. "That isn't an answer. Answer the question!" Zack spat, as he prepared to draw his sword. Sephiroth laughed then. A mad, eerie sound that caused him to wince.

"Let me tell you about my mother." Sephiroth said as he tore away the huge metal statue in front of him. It revealed yet another stasis tube that contained a female figure with long silver-white hair. Tubes extended from the chamber that led to machines feeding the long dead creatures in the pods outside.

"My mother was destined to rule this planet an travel the cosmos. But the human sheep were weak, the Cetra were feeble, and together they helped Shinra take her freedom away! Her power and wisdom would have changed things, created strength and beauty! I will return to her that freedom, and together we shall regain all that was stolen. We **will** sail the stars again. Will be freed from the taint of Cetra blood and worthless humanity. Bow down to us or face the infinite pain, suffering and death as is the wont of your kind."

With a smooth, swift motion, the general turned and struck. The fight was over within minutes. Sephiroth, the far superior swordsman, created to never tire, did not fail to strike Zack Fair down with ease. The young man was impaled on the flashing blade of the liberated angel, and fell to the floor in a crimson pool. It was over.

The angel gazed into the glass, bathing in the reflection of his mothers features. He raised his arms, and heedless of the consequences, shattered the glass. He removed the cumbersome metal helmet from his mothers head. It pulled away from her bodily remains easily. The general cradled it gently, tenderly, then slid it inside his coat and turned to leave.

He was prevented from doing so. A figure lurched through the door frame, and seized masamune before he could reach it. The soldier threw his helmet aside and spoke. This voice was distant and familiar, and it too was choked with tears of anger and betrayal.

"Sephiroth! My mother...my town...Tifa...Zack...Why?! What have I ever done to deserve this?! Why didn't you just kill **me**? I know that I'm not the best soldier, but mother was innocent! How could you do this? To **Zack**? To **me**?! I love...d you!"

Clouds voice broke. With a cry of anguish, Cloud lashed out, and ran the general through.

Sephiroth felt the sudden pain in his chest and clutched the head of Jenova as he attempted to shift the blade from his chest. Suddenly, inexplicably, the younger man _lifted him off of his feet._ Clouds teeth were clenched in pain, and tears were pouring down his cheeks. They mingled with the blood and fell, staining the blue uniform beneath. Cloud swung the impaled angel over the reactor pit.

The eyes of the general seemed to melt for a second time, then, and even as he reached out towards Cloud, he hurled himself backwards, out into space. "Sorry...love...you...Cloud." And then he was falling away into the blackness of oblivion.

Cloud had fallen to his knees. With a scream of pain he managed to pull himself free of the blade. He crumpled to the floor and lay there sobbing, incoherent, until the blackness overtook him and he hoped that he would never wake.

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End file.
